Queen's Own Fool p.1

Well lately I have been talking about foods and movies, so I shall continue the topic about: books! So lately, I have been assigned a book report where I can choose the book, only it has to be either historical fiction or nonfiction. As I was skulking around the library, I stumbled across this book called Queen’s Own Fool. Your first reaction would be something like “what do you mean by fool?” or “would this relate to a queen being a fool?” right? If not, you don’t much of an impression by just reading the title. Then, underneath the title, it had “A novel of Mary Queen of Scots”. ‘Maybe it might be about Mary Tudor’, I thought. Not. Here’s some insight on “who” is Mary Queen of Scots before I start talking about the novel.




Mary, Queen of Scots was one of the most fascinating and controversial monarchs of 16th century Europe. At one time, she claimed the crowns of four nations - Scotland, France, England and Ireland. Her physical beauty and kind heart were acknowledged even by her enemies. Yet she lacked the political skills to rule successfully in Scotland. Her second marriage was unpopular and ended in murder and scandal; her third was even less popular and ended in forced abdication in favor of her infant son. She fled to England in 1568, hoping for the help of her cousin, Elizabeth I. Her presence was dangerous for the English queen, who feared Catholic plotting on Mary's behalf. The two queens never met and Mary remained imprisoned for the next nineteen years. She was executed in 1587, only forty-four years old. By orders of the English government, all of her possessions were burned. In 1603, upon Elizabeth's death, Mary's son became king of England as James I.


The novel is in the main character’s point of view. Mary, Queen of Scots? Nope. It will be in her French fool, La Jardiniere’s point of view. In the court records, the only known information on her was that:
1.) She is a female
2.) She was given several expensive dresses and linen handkerchiefs
3.) Received a large payment when she was sent home to France when the queen went off to England


I am only half way of the book and am very lazy in the summary of this novel unless I am completely done with the novel. So in the next post, I will explain this amazing novel of the childhood of this little fool and of how Mary was like as she becomes the Queen of Scotland.

Maria Full of Grace

María Álvarez, a 17-year-old Colombian girl, who works at a flower plantation in sweat shop-like conditions (labor work) to help support her family. However, being forced to bring in the money for her unemployed sister (a single mother), discovered of her being pregnant, and being treated unfairly by her boss, she quits and decides to find another job, despite of her family’s disapproval. On her way to Bogotá to find a new job, she is offered a position as a mule — one who smuggles drugs by swallowing drug-filled pellets by one whom she met at a party. Desperate, she accepts the risky offer, befriends another mule named Lucy, discovers that her friend Blanca is also a fellow mule swallows 62 wrapped pellets of cocaine and flies to New York City. After a close call at the US Customs, as she was suspected of drug-trafficking, she is set free and sent to a hotel where she is to remove the pellets from her body. To retrieve the pellets from Lucy, who died when one of them ruptured inside of her, the traffickers cut open her stomach, then disposed of her body. After discovering this, Maria decides to escape the drug-trafficking cartel with Blanca, who left reluctantly. She and Blanca went off to meet Lucy’s sister and stayed there for a short period. Later on, her sister realizes that Maria was hiding the fact of Lucy’s absences and when she discovers the reason Lucy was discovered dead and was involved with drug-trafficking, she kicks Maria and Blanca out of the house in despair. After this and nowhere to stay, Maria and Blanca came back to the drug-trafficking dealers to hand over the drugs and received the money. Maria then gave half the money to Lucy’s sister to send back to Colombia and decides to come back. When she realizes she can have a new start in life In the United States, she calls Blanca, and leaves the airport.


In my opinion, I was wondering what the main theme of the movie is. Not to deal with drug-trafficking? You can get away with drug-trafficking? It is alright to take drugs despite of you being pregnant? But I did understand the reason why she was so desperate to deal that kind of life by doing something risky just to help her family. She was kind of just dealing with that kind of risky job just so she can earn the money. But it seems like she just doesn’t want to become like her sister, who is a single, unemployed mother and is depending on the money coming from her own younger sister. Maria Full of Grace does have its meaning in the movie despite it doesn’t exactly displays that fact.

Bánh mì

With all of these Vietnamese cuisines, people would think: how about fast food viet-style? Well there is such a thing and its called bánh mì. Bánh mì is a Vietnamese ‘sandwich’ that is made up of thinly sliced pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, jalapeño peppers and meat or tofu. Popular bánh mì fillings include roasted or grilled pork, Vietnamese ham, mayonnaise, and chicken. With these fillings, you’re probably thinking its not such a fast food as I was referring right?
Bánh mì is generally served in small shops and can be found in many countries. You can find one within a Vietnamese community. It is made fresh, fast and is low cost, so it is consider to be as “fast food”, but healthier. For recommendations, I suggest based on what type of meat you like best. The most popular would be called bánh mì đặc biệt ("special combo" sandwich) and bánh mì bì (bánh mì with shredded pork). In some restaurants, there is a vegetarian option of bánh mì chay (bánh mì vegetarian style).
The bánh mì sandwich ws based on the French countryside "salad sandwich" which consists of lettuces, tomatoes and sometimes other vegetables as well as dressing served on a baguette. And also, in Vietnamese, bánh mì means "bread", but it can also refer to the bread stuffed with meat.
Personally, like other Vietnamese dishes, I enjoy eating this. This is what considered like what an “appetizer” is but for me, it’s lunch. My favorite would be bánh mì with grilled pork because they really grill the meat literally of a grill and its smoky flavor gives of the seasonings. However, if I don’t feel up to grilled meat, I like eating the bánh mì đặc biệt, which has a variety of fresh meat. Fresh meat meaning nothing grilled or literally cooked with other seasonings.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

You may have heard about spring rolls right? Since they are all around the world, in East and Northern China, Vietnam,Philippines,Costa Rica,Europe,etc.Well, for my topic, it will be Vietnamese spring rolls.

In some restaurants, gỏi cuốn, is translated as spring roll. These are considered 'appetizers' but it can also be a meal to one. It consists of lettuce,, rice vermicelli, lettuce, sometimes fresh herbs, shrimp, and boiled pork all wrapped in moistened rice paper (banh trang), served with dipping sauce nước chấm (fish sauce). Don't like pork? You can also do boiled bacon or even cha lua (vietnamese ham or sometimes called pork patty).Want to try a different sauce other than nước chấm? Try the Vietnamese peanut sauce.


Some people call it the Vietnamese egg roll or Vietnamese salad roll. The main reason is mainly about how the ingredients are all fresh, nothing cooked except for the shrimp and the meat. The meat and shrimp however are cooked by boiling. Nothing fat about it. So you can eat as much spring rolls as you can and not worry about being fat.


The spring rolls were influenced by China and Taiwan, and had a new creation by only having fresh vegetables instead because of how Vietnam is a subtropical country. They get the name spring rolls because it is associated to the Spring Festival


In my opinion, spring rolls are BEST when it is FRESH. That way, I wouldn’t worry about being fat. It’s also easy to make, just make sure you get the banh trang. The dipping sauces are tasty. But I highly recommend the peanut dipping sauce. For those for a milder taste, pick the nước mấm. For those who aren’t so into vegetables and very little meat, I don’t think you could like this much. You would love it if you’re in a diet, love vegetables, and having something nice and light for lunch.

Tatum Annotation Paragraph

(3.) Some examples [what kind of examples?]will highlight the process. Several years ago one of my students conducted a research project investigating preschoolers’ conceptions of[4] Native Americans[so they are investigating at how old would they think children started on stereotypes?]. Using children at a local day care center as her participants, she asked these three- and four-year-olds to draw a picture of a Native American. Most children were stumped by her request[wow]. They didn’t know what a Native American was. But when she rephrased the question and asked them to draw a picture of an Indian, they readily complied. Almost every picture included one central feature: feathers. In fact, many of them also included a weapon—a knife or tomahawk—and depicted the person in violent or aggressive terms. [so what is it that had the children to think that way towards Native Americans?] {similar much?}



Although it wasn't so much because it was only a short example, the next paragraph explains the question I put 'So what is it that had the children to think that way towards Native Americans?' I was also a bit shocked that the fact that they are mixing up the idea of children mixing up the terms Native American and Indian. How children would have the idea of such expressions and have feathers as decorations are really coming from some influence from something. The next paragraph also explains about how they are being influenced by those things that resulted in stereotypes.

Phở

Have you ever heard of phở? Or maybe even tasted phở? If now, I would highly recommend eating it, like right now. In case you don’t even know what I am talking about, is phở a Vietnamese beef and noodle soup. The soup includes rice noodles, a variety of meat of you choice and is garnished with coriander leaves, Thai basil, lime, bean sprouts, white and green onion. There is also a side dish of basil, lime, bean sprouts, and peppers that are added to the soup by the customer. The variations of meat include thin strips of meat, tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, and/or other chicken organs. The broth is made by simmering beef (sometimes chicken) bones, flank steak, charred onion, and spices, taking several hours to prepare.
For meat lovers, I would recommend phở đặc biệt' (specialty phở). Depending on which pho restaurant you go, they would put most of the meat variations. However, if you are leaning in more to the chicken, then you should order phở gà, where all of the meat in the pho consists of chicken breast or chicken wings with rice noodles. For vegetarians, phở chay has mainly leafy greens with rice noodle, but has a much lighter taste in the broth. The most common phở that people would order are phở bò tái (Phở with half-done beef fillet), phở bò viên (phở with beef meat balls), and phở gà (chicken ph ở. For children, you should definitely order phở bò viên. There are also some seafood-based phở for all you seafood lovers.
I guarantee you that if you read this article; you are set to go and order phở that suits you the most. Along side with this, you can also be experiencing another ethnic culture. People are considering that phở is a fast food restaurant when in fact, it really is not. You just get your food a whole lot fast than most restaurants that just makes you want to think that. Unlike most “fast food restaurants”, phở is a whole lot healthier and is enjoyed best on most seasons, but I personally think during cold days.